Using .mac's Backup for invisible files

Oct 07, '02 09:08:25AM

Contributed by: Anonymous

A lot of unix apps store your preferences in an invisible file in your home directory. For example, GPG stores your keyrings and information in an invisible directory named .gnupg. Backup totally ignores these files, which can be disastrous if you're not manually backing up these files. You can, however, force Backup to include these files.

First, find out what invisible files there are by going to the Terminal, navigating to your home directory if necessary (it shouldn't be), and then typing ls -laF. This will give you a directory listing that includes the invisible files and directories.

Now, open Backup and select File -> Add... When the open sheet comes up, the invisible files will be, well, invisible. Now, simply type tilde (~) which represents your home directory, slash, then the name of the invisible file. For example, to add the previously mentioned .gnupg directory, type ~/.gnupg and press the Choose button. The invisible file or folder is now added to your backup items and can be turned on or off like any others.

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